Looking for board advisors: could it be you?

Are you passionate about small business? Do you want to see small firms get paid on time and have their voice heard at the heart of government?

If so, this week’s newsletter is for you.

At the Office of the Small Business Commissioner, we are looking for two new board advisors who will play a key role in contributing to our mission of making life easier for small firms by getting money moving through the economy.

Key points:

• The time commitment is 4 days per annum – this doesn’t sound much so I’m looking for people who can have a big impact in a small amount of days.
• Remuneration is £350 per day – I accept this is not on the level of FTSE 250 Board appointments but it does show we value your time.
• Length of term is 3 Years – enough time to cover the introduction of potential new powers for the Office with mooted new legislation.

I know I’m biased but this is an exciting time to be joining.

As an Office, we are a small yet mighty team of 14 people, located in London, Birmingham, Cardiff. We are currently active in three key areas:

• Casework – resolving cases of late payment on behalf of small businesses who have issues not getting paid by companies with 50+ employees in the UK.
• Fair Payment Code – showcasing businesses who are paying on time through this accredited quality mark. I’m keen to see more big businesses and household names on the Code.
• Digital enablement – working on layers of money flows and how AI and digital trading can speed things up. This work includes a partnership with Centre for Finance, Innovation and Technology (CFIT) on potential to pool data to create a Prompt Payment Score, a marketplace guide, and upcoming US alliance.

Across this work, a good deal of my time is spent raising the profile of the Office so we can deliver the above to more people, and meet our north star metric of reducing the hours that small business owners spend on chasing debt. It currently sits at 86 hours per annum and we are working at pace to reduce this.

We are what’s known as an Arms Length Body (ALB) but work closely with our sponsor department, Department for Business and Trade, with engagement on running SME Safaris, inputting into the Business Academy, and being on hand to offer a small business view to any other central government department that wants one.

A recent development is the consultation on late payment, that attracted a record number of submissions, with a response now being considered at Ministerial level and will be made public in early 2026. This is likely to lead to new legislation and powers for the Office.

For the new board advisers,  I’m looking for individuals who have experience of working on large corporate comms campaigns, have encouraged and supported small firms to adopt new tech, and professionals with legal experience who would relish the opportunity to join at a time of potential new legislation coming into effect.

If this sounds like you, please consider applying